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"ONE BANANA SPLIT SUNDAE FOR THE PRETTY LADY." Steve Harrington slid Zoe's order across the counter. Zoe chuckled, clearly not falling for any of his advancements. She, actually, had someone else in mind. But with her friends sitting across the room, watching every interaction the two committed, she had to lie at the moment. She couldn't remember when her ridiculous lie had started, but for the sake of keeping her secret hidden— it was something she would have to endure.
What most people didn't know about Zoe Addams was her interest in girls, in more ways than one. The only person to know of her sexuality, was her father, Sam Addams. And although she liked girls, she liked boys just the same— but that didn't mean she liked Steve Harrington as anything more than a friend. There was a reason why she kept her sexuality a secret from her friends. Most people don't realize how hard it is to be gay in 1984. Although Zoe's friends have stuck with her, basically her entire life, she didn't want anything to change. So some lies had to be told, but that did not make her a liar. It made her a survivor.
"Your cute Harrington, but not my type." Zoe chuckled, handing the money over to the slumped boy. A woman appeared from the back, pulling apart the window that separated both the front and backroom. Zoe automatically recognized her as Robin, otherwise known as the girl who she was currently pinning after.
She caught her friends giggling uncontrollably in the back of the room. Zoe couldn't remember why she was friends with those people anyway. She only assumed it was because it was better than being alone.
Robin pulled out a whiteboard, on one side of the whiteboard it wrote 'YOU RULE' in bold letters. The other side wrote, 'YOU SUCK' in the same design. Under the 'You Rule' column, there were no tally-marks, and the same story could not be told for the 'You Suck' column which held five tally-marks. "And another one bites the dust. You are oh-for-six, Popeye." She commented. Zoe couldn't help the small smile that adorned her face. Robin used her erasable marker and drew the sixth tally.
"Yeah– yeah, I can count you know," Steve remarked, crossing his arms defensively. Zoe didn't know what else to do but watch, it was way too intriguing to turn away.
"You know that means you suck." Robin countered.
"Yep, I can read too." Steve turned to view Zoe who seemed to be enjoying the scene a bit too much. Spoiler alert; she was.
"Since when?" Robin tilted her head, letting her smug smile make itself present. Zoe chuckled, grabbing her sundae which looked a bit melted. Zoe wasn't upset, she hadn't really come for the ice-cream anyways. She moved the board aside, waiting to embarrass Steve the next time he flakes out. "It's my shift Steve, get out." Robin moved out from the back, taking charge of the cash registers and scooping services.
With Steve in the back, Robin decided to speak out. "Let me tell you, that's the quickest he's ever been shot down. Color me not-that-surprised. I'm Robin." She introduced herself. Zoe has been waiting for a moment like this, where she could have a one-on-one conversation with the girl who seemed way to good for anyone in Hawkins. Zoe's crush might have been a little more than a crush.
"Oh, I know. I've seen you from across the court— not in a creepy way or anything," Zoe tried to fix her rather weird sentence, verging on the line of being creepy. "Let me backtrack, my name's Zoe Addams. I work at the Records Store across here. So, I've seen you around before." She began to explain herself causing Robin to laugh.
What Robin had failed to reveal was her pre-existing knowledge on the girl in front of her. "As much as I want to keep talking to you, there's a line behind you and I'd much get out of here early," Robin said. Zoe quickly looked behind her, not realizing that this was a public area and of course there were going to be people behind her.
She moved aside so the next person could order, grabbing her fully melted ice cream in the process. "Well— I guess I should head back to work, without any ice-cream." She dropped the sundae into the trash, not having any use for it now. It was just a waste of food and money. Robin realized this, and after serving her current costume, grabbed a small cone and scooped some vanilla ice cream into it.
"On the house," Robin smiled. Zoe thanked her before heading back to her own job. Zoe was surprised she managed to uphold a conversation with the girl she liked. Zoe's friends followed after her, desperate to hear if anything happened between Steve and herself. And she lied, she lied again.
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ZOE KICKED HER BACKPACK INTO THE CORNER OF THE ROOM. She found her dad in the kitchen, slouched over some cooking book that he tried 'deciphering'. He couldn't cook for his life. "Hey, dad, I'm home." She announced, heading over to the kitchen where he seemed more relieved than anything.
"Oh thank God. Hey, pumpkin. I— I don't know what I'm doing, please help." He handed the cooking book over to Zoe, who was in the process of reading it over. He placed a light kiss on his daughter's hair, moving over to clean the mess he had created.
"Lasagna? You hate lasagna." Zoe closed the book, placing it back on the stand.
He sighed, rubbing the temple of his forehead. "Yeah, but I know you like it. I wanted to do something special for you— but it didn't end so well."
Zoe laughed, "I'll just order some pizza." She felt sort of guilty like she had done something wrong. Her dad already worked so hard, trying to support the two of them all by himself. As a single father, things had gotten hard, but she was sure it was nothing they couldn't handle together. After placing her order she sat down next to her dad on the couch.
"Independence Day is coming up, the mayor, Larry Kline, is sponsoring the Fun Fair that day. I was wondering if you wanted to go, you know; spend some time with your old man." Sam was hoping she'd accept his offer, all he wanted was some father and daughter bonding time before Zoe would eventually grow up and leave him. He had grown up in Hawkins all his life and leaving it wasn't something he could do for himself. But he held that hope out for his daughter, hoping she wouldn't have to rot away in some town no one's ever going to remember.
Zoe smiled, shifting herself on the couch so her legs were now propped up on top of Sam's. "I'd like that." She replied simply, knowing it would be enough to convey her feelings. This Summer, she was determined for a few changes. With Robin, with her father, and most importantly— herself.
The reason Zoe worked at the records store wasn't just because of her love of music (although that was part of it). She took the job so she could help support her dad. It wasn't only going to help her with college, but life at the moment. Sam had told his daughter that he wanted her to take the job so she could get out of the house more often. And it had worked. Knowing that Zoe only took the job to take on the stress of adulthood, would have broken his heart. Which is why she never told him.
So maybe Zoe Addams wasn't a survivor. Maybe, she was just a liar, a liar with reason. And maybe, she was okay with that. After all, they were her own bottled up lies, and she had no intention of letting it loose anytime soon.
AUTHORS NOTE!
Hello! Here's the first official chapter to 'Constant Cravings'! Sorry, it was a bit short, I just wanted to lay down all the information about Zoe and her home life before continuing. I hope you'd enjoy it nonetheless. I surprisingly already have the story mapped out so I'll try to keep this book going with updates as soon as I can get them out! I stayed up all night writing this chapter and I am wiped out! Leave some comments! I love reading them!! 'Till next time darlings!!
